Enter the Shadow Realm
by Kirbie
Summary: [HPxYGO] Year 6 at Hogwarts. Where do the veil in the Department of Mysteries and the Vanishing Cabinet in Hogwarts really lead? And somewhere, somehow, a certain someone may still be alive... Chapter 2: Spiritual Auras is UP!
1. Free Falling

HP/YGO, and more serious than my other two fics. Of course, that's what I always say, but random humor always pops up in there somewhere. Though serious doesn't exactly mean not having any humor at all…

Without any more rambling, please enjoy chapter one of Enter the Shadow Realm!

Chapter 1

Free Falling

He was falling.

Down and down he plunged, the atmosphere becoming icier with every foot he dropped, the shadows deepening with every inch he fell.

He felt as cold as ice and every muscle in his body screamed in exhaustion. Yet he clung to life, desperate not to die. _There are people waiting for me to come home. I _will not_ let them down._

The wind whistled as his descent quickened, gaining more momentum the more he plummeted. He began to choke on the rapidly thickening air. He could only watch as he fell down into a world hazed over with wispy purple clouds and crackling black energy.

And all of a sudden the ground appeared below him.

He shut his eyes tightly, his body impulsively preparing for impact. _There's no way I can survive hitting the ground from that far up. All that hoping, all that wishing…it was all for nothing._

And he fell down, down, down to meet his doom…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yami and Yugi jumped up from the couch simultaneously, spilling popcorn all over the carpet. Yami looked rather frustrated. Yugi looked worried.

"Did you…did you get a vision?" he asked anxiously.

Yami only nodded. "It looked particularly like the Shadow Realm…perhaps we should go investigate. There has been a strange energy pulsing from inside there for days, though neither Bakura nor I have been able to figure out where it's coming from. Then again, aibou," he said, lightening up, "maybe that's due to the fact that you've been forcing all of us to watch the DVDs of these movies for…what is it, a week now? We've had no _time_ to really look around."

Yugi flushed. "They're good!" he said defensively. "You like them too!"

Yami sighed.

"Well, we should at least go check things out. It might ease my mind."

"Fine, fine," Yugi grumbled. "I'm putting the tape on pause. We'll watch it when we get back."

Yami rolled his eyes.

"Well, the way you were glued to the television…"

Yami glanced at the exciting sword fight that was frozen on the screen. "Okay, okay! I admit it! Let's go before I change my mind and first make us finish Return of the King before we go there."

"What's the problem with that?" Yugi whined.

"One, you've already watched the thing _three times_, even though this is my first time_._ Two, that man looked like he needed help and fast."

"Oh, you're right," Yugi realized. "Let's go!"

With a muttered incantation, Yami summoned the Shadow Realm. When they were safely encased in the hazy world, they looked around.

"I don't see anything…"

"Wait, there's something happening over there!" Yami cried, pointing at a large congregation of Duel Monsters. They sprinted over to the expectant-looking group and skidded to a stop.

"There's something…falling from the sky," Yugi said, squinting upwards.

"It…it looks like a man!" Yami realized.

"The one from our vision!" they both yelled simultaneously.

"Curse of Dragon!" Yugi cried, reacting quickly and summoning the monster from his deck. Hopping aboard the dragon's back, he swooped to catch the man before he was devoured by the hungry-looking monsters.

"Good work, Yugi!" Yami praised. "Okay, show's over, shoo," he said, turning to the group of disappointed Duel Monsters. Slowly, they ambled off to what they had been doing before, some looking rather disappointed, before the last of them disappeared into the shadows.

Once they were back from the Shadow Realm, Yugi and Yami heaved the man upstairs to the guest bedroom, piling a few blankets on him and checking his pulse and temperature.

"He's freezing, but he doesn't have a fever," Yugi reported. "I think he just needs some rest. He's unconscious."

Yami nodded slowly. "Well, while we wait for him to wake up then, I think we have unfinished business downstairs."

And the two of them raced back downstairs to finish Return of the King.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry ripped open the letter that Pigwidgeon had just brought from the Weasleys with interest, ignoring the hyper little owl that was now slamming itself against Hedwig's cage. Hedwig was hooting in annoyance, but Harry tuned that out too.

__

Dear Harry,

Mum says that Dumbledore doesn't want you coming over to our house this year. He says it'll be safer for you to stay at the Muggles' house. But she's still arguing with him. Who knows what'll happen. At the very least, you should be able to come to Diagon Alley with us this year.

Hermione made me attach her letter. It's pretty short, so I guess Pig won't have a problem with the extra weight. So how are you doing?

We didn't go anywhere over vacation, Mum said it was too dangerous. Egypt seems like such a long time ago. Write back,

Ron

Harry smiled faintly, put the letter under his floorboard, and pulled out Hermione's fragment of parchment.

__

I'm sorry about Sirius. Try to lighten up, Harry. It'll do you no good to become depressed. It's natural to miss him, but pining over him won't help you either. I'm sorry if I sound flippant, but I've had to deal with this kind of thing before, and I'm here if you need me, and so is Ron. Don't keep it all bottled up inside you- if you need anyone to talk to, we're here for you.

I suppose I'll see you at Diagon Alley then. Have you got your OWL results yet? I have a feeling Dumbledore may be too busy to send them by owl over the break. I suppose we'll get them when term starts. I hope the rest of your summer vacation ends nicely!

Hermione

Harry stared at the letter with mixed feelings. He wanted to crumple it up and trash it, but he also wanted to just pocket it and keep the heartfelt words in mind. He winded up stuffing it in the pocket of his Hogwarts robes and flopping back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He was so lost in thought that the next owl that arrived had to peck him back to reality. He accepted the parchment and unrolled it, rubbing his neck, which was the body part that the owl had chosen to attack. Dumbledore's familiar, loopy handwriting greeted him.

__

Harry,

My deepest condolences about your godfather. I understand he was the only friendly family figure left in your life, but do not despair. Not all hope is lost. Sirius may not be dead- Tonks was on a trip to Japan this summer and she swears she saw two teenagers carry a man who looked exactly like Sirius into a Japanese game shop. We plan to send Aurors there this afternoon to confirm the man's identity.

I will keep you informed this year, Harry. I won't make the same mistake twice.

Sincerely,

Professor Dumbledore

This got Harry's attention faster than a jolt of lightning would have.

__

Sirius…may not…be dead? But I saw him fall into the veil myself…

Unless…

The veil doesn't really kill you?

He felt hope welling up inside of him and overflowing. He wanted to dance for joy, shout in happiness, anything to express his feelings, but Dudley would just come in and tease him until Harry turned his wand on him.

So he stayed silent and lay back on his bed.

He would find out soon enough if Dumbledore was telling the truth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The banging on the front door startled Yugi awake.

After the movie, Yugi had dozed off on the couch. He had been faintly aware of Yami moving to the other sofa, but then he had fallen asleep.

Yugi calmed his racing heart and leaned over to shake Yami awake, only to find that Yami was wide awake and staring at the door downstairs.

"Strangely dressed people," Yami muttered. "I don't really see any threat though. I guess you can open the door. Although I'm not sure what they would want, the shop's closed today."

Yugi hopped off the couch, unlatched the chain lock, and pulled it open for the guests. 

"We're closed today," he said politely. "So if you're looking for cards, you'll have to come back on Monday."

"No, that's not what we're looking for," a scarred man with mismatched eyes and long, grizzled, gray hair growled. "My name is Mad-Eye Moody. We were wondering if one Sirius Black was here…" 

~End of Chapter 1~

Short first chapter- this is just to see if people like it. Anybody think that the plot is moving too fast? But it's not really revolving around Sirius being found. It's more about the veil in the Department of Mysteries…you'll see what happens later…

And were you wondering about the vanishing cabinet that was mentioned in OotP? That comes into play later too.

Review please! Expect slow updates though, unless inspiration strikes. ^.^


	2. Spiritual Auras

Author's Notes: Well, I had the chapter all typed up and ready to go, and then we had a _power failure_. And I lost the whole damn thing. My computer must be the crappiest thing in the world, because Word's AutoRecovery feature didn't even kick in. And I know for a fact that I saved after I finished the chapter. So I lost the whole chapter, all my author's notes and review responses, and my inspiration for the fic. Therefore, this chapter came out about a week later than it should have had. Sorry for the wait, and the presumably horrible chapter (or at least it's worse than the original chapter).

Chapter 2

Spiritual Auras

Yugi hopped off the couch, unlatched the chain lock, and pulled it open for the guests. 

"We're closed today," he said politely. "So if you're looking for cards, you'll have to come back on Monday."

"No, that's not what we're looking for," a scarred man with mismatched eyes and long, grizzled, gray hair growled. "My name is Mad-Eye Moody. We were wondering if one Sirius Black was here…"

"Sirius Black?" Yugi asked slowly.

Yami appeared behind Yugi, having come down the stairs to see who Yugi was talking to. "He was on the news about three years ago," he recalled. "Apparently he was a mass murderer, but he operated mainly in Europe." His eyes narrowed menacingly. "Are you implying that we're hiding a criminal in the shop?"

"Heard about that particular incident, did you?" Moody growled. "Tonks here seems to think that you were carrying him in a while ago."

Yugi frowned in concentration. "The man we dragged in from the Sha-" With a warning look from Yami, he amended his sentence. "From outside. He was lying in the road when we were going to the arcade, so we brought him back here. He's Sirius Black? He never woke up, so we couldn't ask him anything."

"Of course he hasn't woken up," Moody barked. "He's been hit with a Stunning Spell. Don't you know anything, boy?"

Yugi and Yami both blinked slowly. "A stunning what?"

"A Stunning Spell," Tonks said cheerfully. "It's exactly what its title means- a spell that stuns someone."

"Wait, a _spell_?" Yami's eyes narrowed. "You haven't come to take our Millennium Puzzle, have you? Because if you have, I swear you'll be six feet under in no time at all-"

Moody sighed impatiently. "Haven't you been listening to a word we've been saying? I told you, we've come for Sirius Black, and nothing else. Besides, why would we want a child's puzzle, even if it does have a fancy name? It would be of no use to us."

Yugi and Yami exchanged dry looks. "Far from it, actually," Yugi sighed, "but please come in and have a seat."

"Thanks," Tonks said brightly. "But really, we don't mean to be an inconvenience. We'll just pop in and grab Sirius, then we can go."

"But-" 

However, Yami cut his aibou off with a curt, "That's fine as well. He's in the guest room on the third level – second door to your left once you get up the stairs."

"Thank you," Moody replied, equally as tense. "Come on," he growled to the others, and they all trooped up the stairs.

Yugi sighed and rearranged a few booster packs that had been pushed to the floor. "Yami, what was with the attitude?" he demanded. "They didn't _show_ any threat."

"Aibou, haven't you learned to be _careful_ already? Can you even count how many schemes to take our Puzzle we've been swept up in? It's better to avoid another by being snappish than to risk the lives of our friends and family on a silly gamble such as being nice to strangers."

"I guess you're right, but they said that they didn't even want it, and if they knew what it was actually capable of, they'd waste no time trying to snatch it out of our hands."

"So you're _already_ trusting them? You don't even know half of their names, you don't know their background- I swear, Yugi, you can be so-!"

Yugi shrugged, adjusting one of the metal bracelets he wore. "It hasn't _really_ caused us any problems yet, has it?" he pointed out. "Name one situation where it has, and I'll consider closing up."

Yami groaned and turned away. "Never mind. Forget I ever said anything. Besides, I like you perfectly the way you are now. Shouldn't they be down here already? Surely it doesn't take that long to get a person?"

"I'm not sure…maybe they had to disable the Stunning Spell. That might take a while."

"Hmm…about this Stunning Spell…I don't believe I've ever heard of it in Ancient Egypt. Do you think there might be another type of magic out there in the world that we've never heard of?"

"It's definitely possible," Yugi said slowly, thinking about it. "After all, we don't know everything in the world…"

Just then, the groans and creaks that the stairs made cut off their conversation.

"Well, he's alive and awake," Moody informed the two of them. "But apparently he doesn't seem to be fit for travel yet."

"Don't tell me," Yami sighed. "You want us to keep him for a while longer."

"Bingo," Tonks said. "If it's not too much trouble for you."

Yami started to say that it was, but Yugi cut him off sharply. "It's fine," he smiled. "We've got a spare bed anyway, and my grandpa will be back shortly."

"Well, Lupin, aren't you going to say anything? They did help rescue Sirius, after all," Tonks said cheerfully to another man who was wearing considerably shabbier robes than the rest.

"Thank you," Lupin said quietly. "Sirius is a nice man once you get to know him, so don't judge by what you first see. If you have a problem, tell Sirius to contact me, he'll know how. When he's well enough to travel, one of us will come get him."

"All right," Yugi said cheerfully. "Have a nice day, all of you." And he opened the door to let them out.

"We'll stop by and check him out from time to time," Moody added. "So don't think of trying anything."

"So suspicious of us already?" Yami asked sarcastically.

Moody glared at him. "Especially of you, boy. I sense something otherworldly about you, and mark my words, I _will_ find out what it is."

Yami just shrugged, but Yugi, being able to read him like an open book, noticed that a slightly strained-looking expression had come over his face. 

"Believe what you want," Yami said carelessly. "Goodbye." And he shut the door after the last of them had gone through, slumping down on the glass counter with an exhausted look on his face.

"Are you all right?" Yugi asked anxiously. 

"Fine," Yami said in a clipped tone. "Though how he could read my aura and sense that I was a spirit is a question still left unanswered, especially since he's not caught up in the whole Millennium Item mess…but we can worry about that later. For now, we should go check on…Sirius."

"Oh, right, I nearly forgot about him," Yugi said, and the two of them ascended the two flights of stairs to the guest room. The man inside was propped up against the wall, blinking out the window.

"Oh, you're awake," Yugi said brightly. "You're Sirius Black, right?"

Sirius nodded. "And you are…?"

"Yugi Motou."

"Yami Motou."

Sirius chuckled. "Brothers, I suppose?"

The two nodded, though Yami did it a bit stiffly.

"Some of your friends came to see you," Yugi offered. "Did you get to talk to them?"

"Oh yes, they were pretty worried about me, but I'm fine."

"Is there anyone you want to contact?" Yami asked.

"Well, I suppose I need to talk to my friend's son, Harry. I'm his godfather and he thinks I'm dead. It's a long story, but I guess I need to tell him that I'm alive. But I don't suppose you have any owls lying around in your house, do you?"

"No," Yami said, raising an eyebrow. "That would be kind of odd. But we do have a computer and a phone."

"Aren't owls nocturnal?" Yugi asked curiously.

"Not when they're used to deliver mail," Sirius chuckled. "I suppose the phone will do though. Harry gave me his number." [1]

Yami nodded briskly. "There's a wireless one in the next room. I'll go get it for you."

Yugi jumped up from his position at the foot of Sirius's bed. "I'll go with you!"

"I trust you'll be all right for a few minutes while we're gone?" Yami asked. Sirius nodded.

"All right then, we'll be back later." And the two of them left.

"So, any first impressions?" Yugi asked once they were safely out of earshot in the next room.

"He seems all right, as in not evil or anything. But appearances can be deceiving. Remember Malik? He seemed pretty normal at the beginning, didn't he? And in the end he turned out to be just another person who wanted to steal our Puzzle, only with a more complex plan."

Yugi groaned. "Come on, he doesn't want our Puzzle anymore, and that's what really matters. We even became friends later. And he's not an insane, power-hungry crazed maniac that wants the Pharaoh's power anymore. Well, maybe he's still just a bit insane, but…"

"I guess so." But Yami didn't look very convinced. "His aura indicates that he's peaceful, for now anyway. I suppose he's safe to be around, but don't talk about the Millennium Items in front of him until we know we can trust him."

"All right…" Yugi picked up the phone and handed it to Yami. "But we still need to ask him how he ended up in the Shadow Realm."

"Weren't you even listening to a word I said?" Yami groaned. "We can't _do_ that! Asking him about the Shadow Realm would mean that we would have to explain how _we_ got there as well, and I don't think there's a plausible excuse just lying around for that kind of thing. Let's just keep quiet about that until later." He turned on his heel and went out the door.

Yugi followed silently. Was it just him, or was Yami being snappier at him than usual that day…?

But his worries were swept away as halfway down the hall, Yami stopped abruptly and turned to face him. "Aibou, I'm sorry if I seem annoyed or angry at you. I'm not, really. It's just that those other people wore my patience down. I don't mean to take it out on you."

"Stress," Yugi said knowledgeably. "I get it all the time when I miss too many tests because of my dueling."

Yami groaned, the tension evaporating as they joked around. "Speaking of tests and homework, have you done your summer stuff yet?"

Yugi's eyes widened. "Oh shi-"

"Language, aibou."

"-crap?" Yugi finished weakly. "It's going to take me _forever_…"

"Well, I'll be of no help to you in anything but history. Do you have an assignment in that?"

"Oh! Um…yes. Luckily for me, we're doing a review of Ancient Egypt, so you can help me!"

"So now I'm just a world studies reference book?" Yami asked sarcastically. "Oh joy."

Yugi giggled. 

By then they had reached the door to Sirius's room. Opening the door, Yami tossed the silver phone to him. "I'm assuming that you know how to work it, so we'll leave you alone to have a private call. Yugi here needs help on his homework, so I'm going to help him there. Call if you need anything- we'll be downstairs. When you're done, you can leave the phone on the bedside table. One of us will come collect it later."

"And stay in bed," Yugi ordered. "You need more rest."

Sirius grinned and promised that he would. The two went out the door, easing it shut behind them.

__

A bit odd, but overall they seem like nice boys. They kind of remind me of Harry…

Sirius turned the phone on and dialed Harry's number.

The phone began to ring…

~*~

The doorbell rang.

Ryou rushed to get it before Bakura could, as the spirit tended to scare all their visitors away unless it was one of their friends.

But he was too late.

"Hello?"

"What the hell do you want?"

"My name is Tonks, and these two are Remus Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody. We just rented a house by yours, and we thought we'd come and introduce ourselves."

"Oh, screw off," Bakura grumbled. "We don't even know you."

"That's the point," Tonks said cheerfully.

Bakura gave her his infamous death glare. She didn't even flinch. "You're too happy in the mornings," he said loudly, staring at her.

"Bakura, don't be rude," Ryou chided, smacking his yami on the back. "Hello, my name is Ryou Bakura, and this is…Bakura."

"Brothers, are you? Twins?" Moody growled.

"I suppose you could say that."

"Wow, a lot of twins in these parts," Tonks commented. "We just met another pair right before you. Interesting hairdos."

"Like your hair is any more normal than theirs. Wait. Did you say twins?" Bakura feigned shock. "Do I _really_ look so much like this…this…_him_?" He pointed at Ryou. "I must be getting soft."

The two of them cracked up. Tonks, Lupin, and Moody just stood there blinking.

When Ryou stopped laughing, he said, "We know them too- Yugi and Yami. We've known them for a while, actually."

"Oh. Well, we thought we'd just come and introduce ourselves," Lupin said. "Have a nice day, you two." The three of them began to amble down the path that led to the sidewalk.

"Same to you," Ryou said, and shut the door.

"Did you sense something strange about those three?" he asked Bakura.

He narrowed his eyes. "Yes, and if they've met Yugi and the Pharaoh, then as much as I hate to admit it, I think we should talk to them about it. Perhaps they've sensed something along those lines as well."

Ryou moved aside a stack of papers and threw the phone to Bakura, who began to punch in the digits for the Game Shop's phone number.

~*~

Moody frowned in concentration as they returned to the house. 

__

Two people with that same strange spiritual aura in the same day…

Perhaps I should send a letter to Professor Dumbledore.

~*~TBC…~*~

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~*~ Review Credit: Mariel1337, Curtis Zidane Ziraa, manga-nut, Blood Aura, Molly-chan the Anime/Game fan, Cute lil Yami, BonnieGinger4ever, Quatre Winner, YoukoKurama201, HikariEryaviel, Shiroi Bara, ruth 4 kai, deranged black kitten of doom, darkmagiciangirl6, xoliel, AmenOsirius, and It'sHardToBelieve! ~*~

Review Responses:

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Cute lil Yami: I'm sorry, I haven't had much time lately to read fanfiction. But I'll definitely stop by and read it today or tomorrow.

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It'sHardToBelieve: Yes they do…and then all the readers are like "GAH!" It's so fun to write them, but it's not fun for the readers at all…especially when they take such a long time to update like me…

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BonnieGinger4ever: Actually, you were the third one, but that's good enough ^_^ Yeah, that was such an awesome movie…it was just REALLY long…

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Blood Aura: There's another fic like this? Wow. Just when I think I have an original plot…but that's okay. Could you tell me the title? I think I've found it already, but it may be different…

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AmenOsirius: Thanks for the tip! ^.~ I'm sure it'll be a big help in the future!

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manga-nut: Hmm. Well, basically, Sirius fell into the veil, but since J.K. Rowling never really specified where the veil led and never really _confirmed_ that Sirius was dead, I made it so it led to the Shadow Realm. Then Yugi and Yami got a vision of him falling in, so they went to help him, but he was still Stunned so he couldn't move or talk. I hope that helps!

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To everyone else: Thanks for the reviews!!

~*~

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End Notes: Yes, very little plot development, but that was just how this ended up.

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I'm thinking of looking for a beta reader. If you think you'd want to edit my chapters (for this story only, I'm not sure about the others yet), then send me an e-mail at Anime_Sorceress@starplace.com or leave a comment in the review.

Also, I like this fic, so I think I'm going to put HPDM on hiatus (AGAIN) until I get at least two more chapters up…just so no one's left hanging TOO much…anyone have opinions on this?

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Next Up: Sirius finally gets in touch with Harry. Moody ships his letter off to Dumbledore. Yugi, Yami, Ryou, and Bakura receive strange notes.

Review please!


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